
NIFT Counselling 2025 - The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) will start the registration for NIFT 2025 counselling tentatively in the fourth week of June 2025. Counselling dates will be out soon, as the NIFT Stage II Examination has now concluded. NIFT 2025 counselling will have five rounds. Four seat allotment rounds followed by a SPOT round.
The Situation Test/ Studio Test and Personal Interview for UG programmes was on June 8, 2025, and for PG programmes, the personal interviews were from May 26, 2025. Stage II includes the NIFT Situation Test, NIFT Studio Test, and/or NIFT Personal Interview.
Latest update:
-
NTA NIFT 2025 Final Result Declared for UG and PG Programmes - Check Now
- NTA NIFT Final Result 2025 (Awaited) Live
As part of the registration process, the candidate must select academic options and campus in order of priority and pay the registration fee. The registration fee for NIFT Counselling 2025 is INR 9,300.
Candidates who qualify for the NIFT 2025 entrance exam will be eligible to participate in counselling. The direct link to register for the counselling process will be provided here. The NIFT 2025 seat allotment will be conducted in multiple regular rounds and SPOT rounds. The allotment will be based on the merit rank and academic options selected by the candidate during choice filling. Candidates who will be allotted seats will have to pay the seat acceptance fee by the given deadline. The NIFT 2025 seat acceptance fee is INR 1,83,200.
Also Read: NIFT 2025 result
The allotment of seats will be based on:
- Choice opted at the time of counseling registration (academic programs + campuses)
- The category of the candidate
- Seat intake in the college opted for admission
- NIFT 2025 merit rank of the candidate.
NIFT 2025 seat allotment process will be conducted in four regular and one spot rounds.
The 1st round of seat allotment will be declared around the 3rd week of June 2025. .
The counseling registration will be conducted in May 2025.
The NIFTs are considered among the best design colleges in the country. As per most of the educational institutions' rankings, the NIFTs frequently rank among the top 10.
The names of the top 5 NIFT Colleges are:
Name of the Institute | India Today Ranking 2024 | India Today 2023 Ranking | India Today 2022 Ranking | India Today 2021 Ranking |
---|---|---|---|---|
NIFT Delhi | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
NIFT Mumbai | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
NIFT Bangalore | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
NIFT Hyderabad | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 |
NIFT Chennai | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
NIFT Gandhinagar | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
NIFT Patna | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
NIFT Counselling Process has the following steps:
- Registration and Choice filling by the candidates
- Uploading of documents
- Paying the Seat Acceptance Fee
- Document Verification
- Receiving of Allotment Letter.
There are generally five rounds in the NIFT Counselling. NIFT typically conducts multiple rounds of counselling depending on seat availability. If seats remain vacant after initial rounds, spot counselling may also be announced.
To register for NIFT 2025 counseling, the candidate had to pay a registration fee of INR 9,300.
However, the candidate is not required to pay any fee to select preferences.
The candidate will have to pay a seat-acceptance fee of INR 1,83,200 only if he or she has been allocated a seat. The seat-acceptance fee has to be paid online before the given deadline. Note that if the payment is not done within the given deadline, then the allocated seat will be cancelled and will be allocated to the next candidate in the order of merit.
The seat allotment for NIFT 2025 will be based on the merit rank of the candidate and preference opted during counseling registration.
Seat Withdrawal Policy:
The candidate who are allotted seats between Round 1 and 4 will be able to withdraw their seats.
If the candidate withdraws their seats, only the security deposit will be refunded.
There is no withdrawal option for the SPOT round.
The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) conducted NIFT 2024 seat allotment for SPOT Round on July 27, 2024.
The seat allotment for the fourth round was announced on July 17, 2024.
Candidates who were not happy with the allotted seat or simply wanted to withdraw their seats could withdraw their seats by July 19 (midnight).
To withdraw their seats, the candidate had to follow these steps:
- Go to the NIFT admission portal
- Log in to the portal
- If will see an option for seat withdrawal.
- Click on the option and confirm the withdrawal process
- Once the withdrawal is confirmed, the allotted seat will get cancelled.
- Note that if you withdraw from the admission process, you will not be considered for seat allotment in subsequent rounds. Also, once the withdrawal process is complete, the seat acceptance fee will be refunded to you.
- NIFT 2025 Seat Allotment Criteria
- NIFT Entrance Exam 2025 Exam Dates & Schedule
- NIFT Counselling 2025 - Document Checklist
- NIFT Counselling Process 2025 - Registration
- NIFT Admissions 2025: Withdrawal of Seat & Refund of Fee
- NIFT 2025 Counselling & Seat Allotment - Eligibility Criteria
- NIFT 2025: Test components and Weightage
- NIFT Counselling 2025 - FAQs
NIFT 2025 Seat Allotment Criteria
The 19 NIFT campuses collectively offer a total of 4,837 seats across various programs, including B.Des, M.Des, M.F.Tech, B.F.Tech, and MFM. The following factors will be taken into consideration for NIFT 2025 Seat Allotment:
- Candidate's merit rank in NIFT 2025
- Seat intake for the applied programme
- Options (campus + academic program) selected by the candidate
- Admission category - Open, SC, ST, PwD, etc.
Commonly asked questions
The NIFT 2025 Counselling 2025 will begin tentatively in the last week of June or in first week of July, once the NIFT Final results are declared.
The candidate will need the following documents to participate in the NIFT counselling process: Class 12/ degree mark sheet and certificate. Further, if the candidate is seeking admission to the PG course, then the candidate will also have to upload mark sheets and certificates of the qualifying degree examination.
In case of candidates who have appeared for the qualifying exam/ compartment (of final year/semester) and the result is due need to upload the date sheet /admit card for the examination. Other documents required are a Birth certificate, Category certificate, Medical fitness certificate, signed by a Registered Medical Practitioner in the prescribed format in original.
There are 19 NIFTs that will accept NIFT 2025 Scores for admission purposes. These institutes are known as participating colleges.
However, in addition to the participating colleges, there are other private colleges that will also consider NIFT 2025 scores for admission to their UG and PG design courses. The candidates are urged to go through the list of result-sharing institutes.
The National Institite of Design (NID) will release the answer sheets of the candidate after the declaration of the FINAL results. Further, the answer sheets will only be available on request, only after the admission process is complete.
The answer sheet is not be issued during the admission process.
To request the answer sheet for the admission cycle 2025-26, the candidate has to make a payment of INR 1000 online/ per exam. The candidate will also have to furnish the NID DAT 2025 admit card duly signed by the invigilator and seal of the exam center with the request.
The answer sheet will be sent to the candidate within 15-20 days after receiving the payment.
The National Institute of Design will, however, not release any answer keys for the DAT Prelims exam.
NIFT Entrance Exam 2025 Exam Dates & Schedule
Take a look at the table below for the complete schedule of NIFT Entrance Exam 2025 exam
Dates | Past Exam Dates |
---|---|
Jun ' 25 | NIFT Final Result |
03 Jun ' 25 | NIFT Stage 2: M.F.Tech Personal Interview |
26 May ' 25 - 03 Jun ' 25 | NIFT Stage 2: M.Des and M.F.M Interview |
NIFT Counselling 2025 - Document Checklist
At the time of NIFT 2025 counselling, the candidate will be required to present the following documents:
Documents required for NIFT Counselling 2025 |
|
---|---|
Qualifying examination |
12th class/ degree (marks Sheet and Certificate) Note: In case of admission to PG courses, the candidate will also have to upload mark sheets and certificates of the qualifying degree examination. If the candidate has appeared in the final semester/ final year exam, then he/she has to upload mark sheets of all previous semesters/years. |
The candidate has appeared for the qualifying exam/compartment (of final year/semester) and the result is due. |
The date sheet /admit card for the examination has to be brought. |
Proof of Date of Birth |
10+2 mark sheet/certificate. (Original and Photocopy). |
Certificate of category |
SC, ST, OBC-NCL, GEN-EWS
|
Basis of funding of the tuition fee |
Certificate of the parents' income, e.g., Income Tax Return, Salary Certificate, etc. |
Medical Fitness certificate |
To be signed by a Registered Medical Practitioner in the prescribed format in original. |
Provisional Admission |
Affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper of INR.10/- for seeking provisional admission only in case the result of qualifying examination is yet to be declared (in the format at Annexure-I) |
Size and format of documents to be uploaded |
|
Useful Resources |
NIFTs - Fee Structure for UG and PG courses |
- The counseling documents should be in Hindi/ English.
- If any of the documents are in any other language, then a certified translation in Hindi/English, duly verified by the issuing institution/ gazetted officer / Self-attested (original and photocopy) should be produced by the candidate at the time of counseling.
Commonly asked questions
Yes, a non-refundable registration fee is applicable during the counselling process. The amount and payment details will be mentioned in the official counselling notification.
The category-wise cut-off for the Accessory Design programme for NIFT Bangalore campus is given below:
Category | Opening Rank | Closing Rank |
EWS | 1099 | 2179 |
OBC (NC) | 438 | 1333 |
Open | 35 | 482 |
SC | 2034 | 4214 |
ST | 2839 | 7286 |
Note that reserved category candidates will be considered for admission to both their reserved and open categories.
NIFT Counselling Process 2025 - Registration
To participate in the NIFT 2025 counselling process, candidates need to register for the same at the NIFT website.
Step 1: Registration and Choice filling by candidates
Candidates who are shortlisted for the counseling process need to get:
- Register for NIFT counselling at the official website of the institute: https://nift.ac.in/
- Pay the registration fee of INR 9,300 (non-refundable)
- Fill in the choices of academic programs and campuses -
Note: Choices have to be locked on/before the last date of choice filling, or else the last filled choices will get locked
Step 2: Upload documents
Log in to the NIFT admission portal and upload all the required documents.
Step 3: Pay the Seat Acceptance Fee 2025
Candidates who have been allocated seats will have to pay the seat-acceptance fees of INR 1,83,200. The seat acceptance fees have to be paid online through the Admission Portal only.
Step 4: Take part in Document and Fee Verification
All the documents submitted by the candidate and the fee paid will be verified by the admission cell.
Step 5: Receive Allotment Letter
Once all the above-mentioned steps are completed, allotment letters will be sent to selected candidates via email.
NIFT Admissions 2025: Withdrawal of Seat & Refund of Fee
Candidates who are allotted seats in the first few rounds of seat allotment will be given the option to withdraw from the admission process. If the candidate withdraws on or before the given deadline, then the candidate will be refunded the full fee minus the registration fee. However, if the candidate withdraws after the due date, only the Security Deposit will be refunded.
Particulars |
Amount to be refunded |
---|---|
Withdrawal requests received on the Admission Portal before the given deadline |
The full fee is to be refunded after deducting the registration fee of INR 9,300 |
Withdrawal request after the deadline |
Only the Security Deposit will be refunded |
Candidates can go through the options available for seat withdrawal along with a fee refund for NRI/ SAARC/ Foreign National/ OCI Candidates/ Children/wards of NRI below:
Particulars | Amount to be refunded |
---|---|
Withdrawal requests after confirmation of seat requests received online on the portal till the stipulated date. No physical request will be entertained. | Full fee except for 50% tuition fee and registration fee |
Refund initiated stipulated date onwards | Only the security deposit |
NIFT 2025 Seat Withdrawal Option and Important Points
If the candidate has accepted a seat allotted by NIFT:
- The seat can be withdrawn online starting from the 2nd round.
- Seats can be withdrawn only up to the penultimate round.
- Candidates who have withdrawn their seats will not be considered for seat allotment in subsequent rounds.
- After the seat allotment results have been announced for the last round of counselling, there will be no option to withdraw the allotted seat.
Step-wise process to withdraw NIFT 2025 seat
To exercise the withdrawal option, the candidate needs to follow these TWO steps:
- Confirm on the NIFT portal - The candidate will have to log in to the portal and confirm their withdrawal from the seat allocation process. On confirmation, the allotted seat will be cancelled. Further, the candidate will not be considered for seat allotment in subsequent rounds.
- The seat acceptance fee will be refunded to the candidate; for the refund amount, check the table given above.
NIFT 2025 Counselling & Seat Allotment - Eligibility Criteria
To participate in the NIFT counselling process, the candidate needs to meet the following conditions.
Program | Entrance exam | Qualifying exam |
---|---|---|
UG programs | Qualified NIFT Entrance Exam |
|
Appeared for SAT (for Bachelor program) and has a valid score received by NIFT |
- | |
Qualified NIFT Entrance Exam for Artisan/ Children of Artisan category |
- | |
Qualified NLEA Entrance Exam |
The candidate must have passed:
|
|
M.Des and MFM | The candidate must have qualified in NIFT Entrance Exam or appeared for GMAT and has a valid score received by NIFT |
The candidate must have a valid UG degree:
|
M.F.Tech | The candidate must have qualified in NIFT Entrance Exam or appeared for GMAT and have a valid score received by NIFT |
The candidate must meet any of the following criteria:
|
Commonly asked questions
No, the NTA will not conduct the counseling for NIFT 2025. Its role is limited only to the conduct of the NIFT 2025 written exam and declaration of results.
The NIFT 2025 counseling process is being conducted by the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).
Candidates who qualify in the NIFT 2025 exam have to register for counseling through the NIFT admission portal - nift.ac.in/admission. The counseling registration link is currently being activated.
Visiting the page to register for NIFT 2025 counseling.
Note that as part of the counseling registration process, you need to fill in and lock choices. The seat allotment will be done post document verification after considering factors like merit rank and choices opted.
The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) will release the seat allotment of NIFT 2025 for Round I around the 3rd week of June 2025.
The seat allotment will be based on the merit rank of candidates and academic option picked at the time of counseling registration.
Such candidates who are allotted seats have to submit willingness and pay the admission fee by the given deadline.
Note that NIFT 2025 counseling will be conducted in four regular and one spot rounds. The admission fee amount for regular seats at all campuses is INR 1,83,000.
NRI Sponsored candidates need to pay INR 6,88, 4000 or INR 9,72,000 depending on the campus they have been allocated.
The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) will release the schedule and complete details of NIFT 2025 counseling after final results are declared.
NIFT counseling will be conducted in four regular and one spot rounds.
Note that seats that are left vacant will be offered in the SPOT round.
The counseling registration process will be OPEN from the 1st week of June 2025. The candidate can check their eligibility for counseling by logging into the result portal.
NIFT 2025: Test components and Weightage
Check below the components and weightage of the NIFT 2025 entrance exam, on the basis of which candidates will be shortlisted for seat allotment:
NIFT Admission Criteria 2025 |
||
---|---|---|
Program |
Test |
Weightage |
|
CAT |
50% |
GAT |
30% |
|
Situation Test |
20% |
|
GAT |
100% |
|
CAT |
40% |
|
GAT |
30% |
|
GD/PI |
30% |
|
GAT |
70% |
|
GD/PI |
30% |
|
Master of Fashion Management (MFM) |
GAT |
70% |
GD/PI |
30% |
Also Read:
NIFT Counselling 2025 - FAQs
The candidate may go through the important FAQs related to the NIFT counselling 2025 below.
Commonly asked questions
The NIFTs are ranked among the top design colleges in India. As per India Today 2023 rankings for top fashion design colleges in India, the top 8 positions were occupied by NIFTs. In India Today 2022 rankings as well, the top eight positions were occupied by the NIFTs. NIFT Delhi was the number one ranked college, followed by NIFT Mumbai and NIFT Bangalore, in 2nd and 3rd positions. Speaking of placements at NIFT, candidates passing out of NIFT Delhi on average earns INR 5.5 LPA. Meanwhile, candidates passing out of NIFT Kolkata earns about INR 5.7 LPA. In comparison, NIFT Bengaluru pass outs can expect an average salary of INR 3 Lacs LPA.
In NIFT counselling process, documents of candidates are verified and they are offered a seat for admission in a specific course and college depending on their NIFT rank. As part of the NIFT counselling process, candidates need to get registered and enter preferences of academic programme. Academic programme in this sense means selection of the academic course and NIFT; entries should be in the order of priority. The counseling process for NIFT 2024 is being held online as a centralized seat-allotment process. The allotment of seats will be based on NIFT 2024 merit rank and college/ course picked at the time of registration. Post seat allotment, candidates need to pay the seat-acceptance fees.
The B. Des programme has an intake capacity of 2,884 seats for All-India candidates.
In addition, there are 300 state-domicile.
Admission to the B. Des programme at NIFTs will be based on performance of the candidate in GAT CAT and Situation Test. Candidates are shortlisted for the Situation Test based on their performance in the written exams. The B. Des programme offers specialisation in Fashion Design (FD), Leather Design (LD), Accessory Design (AD), Textile Design (TD), Knitwear Design (KD), and Fashion Communication (FC). The candidate will be able to select their programme of study at the time of counseling and seat allotment.
In case of the B. Des and B.FTech programmes, the candidates should be less than 24 years as on July 1 of the admission year. There is relaxation of 5 years for candidates belonging to SC, ST, and PwD categories. However, there is no age limit for applying to the postgraduate programmes at NIFT. When applying for admission to design courses at the NIFTs, the candidate must also carefully go through the academic requirements. Note that even if a candidate qualifies the NIFT Entrance Exam but doesn't meet the prescribed eligibility criteria, he or she will not be considered for admission.
Get prep tips, practice papers, exam details and important updates
NIFT Entrance Exam Exam
Student Forum
Answered 3 days ago
The NIFTEE written exam 2026 will be conducted in computer-bassed mode, while the sketching-based CAT paper will be held in offline mode.
S
Contributor-Level 8
Answered 3 days ago
The NIFT 2026 admit card will be available for download in the first week of February 2026. Candidates who have successfully registered for the exam can download the admit card from the NIFT admission portal.
S
Contributor-Level 8
Answered 3 days ago
Unless you have finished the NIFT 2026 syllabus and solved the sample papers, it is a safe bet not to start with any new chapters or topics, simply because there is not so much time left and revision needs to be the priority.
S
Contributor-Level 8
Answered 3 days ago
Yes, it is very important to solve NIFT sample papers to gauge one's exam readiness. In addition, sample papers will help the candidate rectify silly mistakes, learn time management, and learn how to use various concepts to solve problems.
S
Contributor-Level 8
Answered 3 days ago
The NIFT 2026 Entrance Exam Stage 1 is expected to be conducted in the second week of February 2026. The exact dates will be out on the NTA NIFT official website.
S
Contributor-Level 8
Answered 3 days ago
The table below shows the top government Fashion Design colleges in India accepting NIFT entrance exams along with their tuition fees and their India Today ranking 2024:
Public/Government Colleges | Tuition Fee | India Today 2024 |
---|---|---|
NIFT Delhi Admission | INR 12.34 lakh | 1 |
NIFT Bangalore Admission | INR 12.34 lakh | 3 |
NIFT Hyderabad Admission | INR 12.34 lakh | 4 |
NIFT Gandhinagar Admission | INR 12.34 lakh | 6 |
NIFT Kolkata Admission | INR 12.34 lakh | 7 |
NIFT Patna Admission | INR 12.34 lakh | 8 |
NIFT Bhubaneswar Admission | INR 9.26 lakh | 13 |
Disclaimer: This information is sourced from official website/ counselling body and may vary.
T
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 days ago
According to India Today ranking 2024, NIFT Delhi emerged to be as the No. 1 ranked Fashion Design colleges in India accepting NIFT exam secured 1st position followed by other colleges like NIFT Mumbai and NIFT Bangalore.
T
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
NIFT Bangalore inducts students to its BDes programme via the NIFT Entrance Exam. For admission to the 2025 batch, this test was conducted by NTA on Feb 9, 2025. Moreover, NTA has also released the entrance exam results. Students who took the exam can check their results and download their scorecar
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
According to some candidates, the NIFT entrance test is challenging but not impossible to crack. You'll need to dedicatedly prepare for a few months to get your hands on the quantitative aptitude and reasoning abilities section.
L
Contributor-Level 8
Answered 2 weeks ago
In an ideal situation, one year is a good enough time to cover the entire NIFT syllabus, solve sample papers, and take mock tests. But considering there is only 6 months or so left for the NIFT exam, the candidate can still prepare for the exam in that period. But for that to happen, the candidate n
S
Contributor-Level 8
46 Institutes accepting NIFT Entrance Exam
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi
Hauz khas, Delhi • Public
- ₹ 5.86 Lakh
- 2 years
- |
- Full Time
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore
H.S.R Layout, Bangalore • Public
- ₹ 5.86 Lakh
- 2 years
- |
- Full Time
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Mumbai
Navi Mumbai • Public
- ₹ 5.63 Lakh
- 3 years
- |
- Full Time
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai
Taramani, Chennai • Public
- ₹ 9.02 Lakh
- 3 years
- |
- Full Time
In what mode will the NIFT 2026 exam be conducted?